Local non-profit donates Thanksgiving baskets

Published 1:00 am, Friday, November 26, 2004

An army of volunteers kept an assembly line moving last Wednesday and Thursday nights, aiming to transform 3,000 pounds of donated food into Thanksgiving baskets for the needy.

Saturday morning, perishables like turkeys, chickens, produce, milk and eggs were picked up at a local market and added to the baskets. The supplies were loaded onto SUVs and delivered to 81 Bethel families.

The outreach effort, which will be repeated this Christmas and at Easter, is spearheaded by Brotherhood in Action, a Bethel-based non-profit charity that provides food, gifts and other financial assistance to local families that need help.

The BIA started as a statewide activity over 50 years ago by three fraternal organizations -
Knights of Columbus
, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons and B'nai B'rith - and has grown into a brigade of men, with spouses, family and friends joining the effort.

BIA in Bethel formed 29 years ago. It is a joint effort between
Pavia Council
48, Knights of Columbus, and Masons Eureka Lodge. Their earliest activity was supplying hospital beds to the chronically ill. As that need was eventually taken care of by health insurance, the two organizations began collecting and delivering food.

Donations for the Thanksgiving baskets were collected at the Bethel schools, St. Mary's Church and Bethel Food Market. Local businesses helped out. Pies were sent from Blue Jay Orchards and Shoprite gave frozen turkeys. The Bethel Jaycees donated produce and provided manpower, which also came from Masons, Knights, the
Naval Junior ROTC
and local Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts.

About 50 percent of the packers both nights were children, pointed out BIA president
Tom O'Leary
. The adults, he said, like bringing the kids t o help. "It gives them a sense that not everyone is as well off as them. Ten years from now they'll be taking over for us."

One of the scouts,
Anthony Asmar
, 10, came to help Wednesday and Thursday. "I like the fact that I'm helping other people," he said as he deposited powdered drink mixes into boxes.

Another volunteer,
Becky LeBlanc
, is a seventh-grader at St. Mary's School. "I think it's good that people are helping."

"It's something everybody should do," added
Erin Sheridan
, a 10th-grader at the high school and a Junior ROTC cadet.

Being part of the activity was helping
Zachary Dall
, new to Bethel and the Knights, "get into the holiday spirit." He said he liked the idea of helping others less fortunate, particularly this time of year.

To determine who should receive the baskets, public notices were placed in newspapers and posted in church bulletins and around town. The
Social Services department
also sent out a letter in October.

A delivery list was compiled by the agency and BIA received calls directly from people needing help.

The list of people who were receiving the baskets last week included details about each family and any special needs, like diapers or baby formula. Collections were stored in a building that formerly housed Dolan Oil Co.

It was chilly in the building's basement Thursday, the second of the two packing nights, but the place bubbled with enthusiasm, as a steady stream of the effort's 125 volunteers filed through late into the night, making sure the cartons contained a sufficient supply of food for the families.

Once turkeys and other perishables were added, the cartons would weight 60 pounds and contain enough for Thanksgiving meal. "There's also enough for other meals, coffee, canned stews, soups, ravioli and cereal boxes, enough to tide them over to Christmas when we make our next delivery," O'Leary said.

He's been making the deliveries for 10 years and has seen his share of families who have fallen on hard times. One recipient a few years ago was a homeless man, but that's not the norm. Instead the people BIA helps are mostly families struggling to pay rent and other bills. "Some have lost their job but mostly they are working people who don't make enough," says O'Leary.

The numbers of people turning to social service for assistance has risen, said the town's social services director, Kathleen Gillen.

She gets calls from the same people year after year, but new families have turned to the agency this year for help. "There's more, absolutely," she said. "There are more young families with babies than before."

Besides helping with the holiday food drives, BIA uses money in its budget to help people year-round.

O'Leary receives calls asking for groceries and occasionally hears from people needing help paying electric bills and rent. The BIA budget also helps to pay for delivery cartons and supplies, as well as some of the food that goes into the cartons for the holiday deliveries.

Brotherhood in Action is now making its annual appeal through Dec. 31. In December it begins collecting food for a Christmas delivery, which will take place on Dec. 18. Food will be collected at St. Mary's Church and Bethel Food Market. The sorting and packing days will be Dec. 14 and 15. Money donations may be mailed to Brotherhood In Action, P.O. Box 582, Bethel, Conn. 06801.